Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a southeastern European nation located in the Balkans Peninsula, bordering Romania to the north, Serbia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. Dominated by the Ottoman Empire for centuries, it regained independence in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 and became a principality. In 1908, Bulgaria was made a kingdom under the rule of Tsar Ferdinand. It remained a monarchy until the communist Bulgarian Fatherland Front took over with Soviet assistance during World War II. Since the Revolutions of 1989, Bulgaria has been a republic. At present, it has a population around 7 million people and has been a member state of the European Union since 2004.